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When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

Play trailer Poster for When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth G 1971 1h 36m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
17% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 26% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
In a fictional past when humans and dinosaurs co-exist, a tribe attempts to sacrifice the beautiful Sanna (Victoria Vetri) as an offering to their gods for protection from the carnivorous beasts. Tara (Robin Hawdon), a fisherman from another tribe, rescues Sanna from the ritual and brings her to his home, enraging Tara's girlfriend, Ayak (Imogen Hassall). Tara and Sanna struggle to survive with hungry monsters hunting them for food and Sanna's tribe out for revenge.

Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 10/23/2004
1.5/4
The folks who brought you One Million Years B.C. have done it again, folks. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 05/24/2022
2.5/4
The Oscar-nominated visual effects overwhelm the so-so storyline. Go to Full Review
Mike Massie Gone With The Twins 08/31/2020
4/10
Entertains similarly to other prehistoric movies of the time - which is to provide little more than buoyant action, adventure, and stop-motion monstrosities. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 08/11/2005
2/5
Bob Bloom Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) 05/02/2004
3/5
A corny, fun outing; more Hammer than history. the special effects are decent and the women are eye-candy. A hoot. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 02/02/2004
C
How could any exotica cult film buff take a pass on this extravaganza? Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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CodyZamboni 08/06/2023 Movie is campy, silly Hammer nonsense. It's overlong , tedious and boring. The only merits are some cool stop motion animation dinosaur action, and lots of attractive ladies in cave bikinis. See more David K 04/18/2023 There's only one word to sum this one up...ahkeetah. I would say not one word of English (or any real language) is spoken in the film but that wouldn't be 100% true. At one point, when the jilted mate does something vile, her friend calls out "Idiot!". What should one expect from a movie that has people standing around with little clothing, dodging dinosaurs and pythons, and killing each other as they watch the moon form into a solid orb. Watch this one late at night. See more Russ 04/12/2023 The kind of cheesy film you click on to see if it's as bad as you feared. Spoiler Alert: it is. But, putting Rachel Welch in a fuzzy bikini was Boffo Box Office a few years earlier, so the producers cleared off the Casting Couch for this skantily-clad epic. See more Dave S 04/08/2023 Set in some sort of alternate universe where humans and dinosaurs co-existed, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth is worth watching for only two reasons – lovely scenery and some pretty effective stop-motion special effects. Beyond that, it is a head-slappingly frustrating viewing experience. The threadbare plot is merely a tool to compel you to watch a sweaty but remarkably good-looking primitive tribe (loin cloths for the men, sexy bikinis for the women) either run around yelling "akita, akita!!" repeatedly (which grows tiresome very quickly) or use pointy sticks to poke at aggressive prehistoric creatures, none of which readily accept being poked. Be warned – When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth is as dumb as movies come. See more 09/03/2019 Did anyone in the world actually watch this entire thing? I could only watch bits and pieces while trying to do something else, but I've never seen anything so pathetic. See more 12/29/2017 The fake caveman dialog gets tiresome in this movie and the story is cheesy as hell set in a fictional world where humans and dinosaurs live together its only elevated by its very impressive effects work for the time. While it doesn't earn any points for great storytelling it offers enough corny thrills to be watchable See more Read all reviews
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis In a fictional past when humans and dinosaurs co-exist, a tribe attempts to sacrifice the beautiful Sanna (Victoria Vetri) as an offering to their gods for protection from the carnivorous beasts. Tara (Robin Hawdon), a fisherman from another tribe, rescues Sanna from the ritual and brings her to his home, enraging Tara's girlfriend, Ayak (Imogen Hassall). Tara and Sanna struggle to survive with hungry monsters hunting them for food and Sanna's tribe out for revenge.
Director
Val Guest
Producer
Aida Young
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Hammer Films
Rating
G
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 17, 1971, Original
Runtime
1h 36m